Nazarenes Reject Strict Inerrancy
by Thomas J. Oord
September 10, 2013
Recently, the Church of the Nazarene reexamined its view of the Bible. A
study committee then recommended that the denomination retain its current doctrine of
scripture and reject strict inerrancy.
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The Church of the Nazarene is only a little more than 100 years old. Its
theological roots are in the Wesleyan-Holiness tradition. And it has long held
the Bible in high regard.
Out at the 27th general assembly, a resolution was brought forward
to change the denomination’s view on scripture. The resolution sought to remove
the phrase “inerrantly revealing the will of God concerning us in all things
necessary to our salvation,” and replace it with the phrase, “inerrant
throughout, and the supreme authority on everything the Scriptures teach.”
This resolution was one reason why I directed a conference at Northwest
Nazarene University (NNU) called “The Bible Tells Me So” in 2011. From that important
conference, my colleague in biblical scholarship, Richard Thompson, and I
published a
book of important essays from leading biblical scholars and theologians.
Several essays in the book deal with the inerrancy issue.
A study committee was commissioned at the 27th general assembly.
Biblical scholar, Tom King, chaired the committee, biblical scholar, Alex
Varughese, served as secretary, and ten others served. The committee’s report
and recommendation were made public this summer at the 28th assembly.
I want to walk you through what I consider the report’s central and most important
statements.
Opposed to Absolute Inerrancy
The report begins by dealing with the proposed change by talking about the
strength of the denomination’s current view of the Bible. It emphasizes that the
Bible is inspired by God.
The heart of the argument comes in the second strength mentioned, namely the
phrase that the Holy Scriptures “inerrantly reveal the will of God in all things
necessary to our salvation.” The committee notes that this phrase is “distinct
from absolute ‘inerrancy’ in every factual detail.”
I especially appreciated the committee’s insistence that interpretation
matters. We are not infallible in our interpretation of the Bible, they
say. And while some Christians think that they are merely stating what the Bible
says, this is naïve. “We interpret Scripture,” they write, “guided by the
traditions of the Church, in the light of our experience as
the people of God, and using sanctified reason.”
The committee argues that “the Bible is not to be treated as an almanac or a
magic book or a text book of history or science.” But “God’s action in the
history of Israel and supremely in the life, death, and resurrection of
the Lord Jesus Christ was ‘necessary to our salvation.’”
The scripture study committee concludes this section by saying “The committee
therefore believes that it is not only unnecessary, but that it would be untrue
to the Wesleyan tradition, incompatible with Wesleyan theology, and unwarranted
by the Scriptures themselves to add any assertion that the Scriptures are
‘inerrant throughout…’” They add that “to assert the complete detailed factual
literal accuracy of every part of Scripture (‘inerrant throughout’) raises more
problems that it solve and diverts people into unnecessary, distracting, and
futile disputes.”
Nazarenes, not Calvinists
In the remainder of their report, the committee says there are important
differences between strict-absolute inerrancy and the Nazarene view of
soteriological inerrancy. “We are committed to the belief that the Scriptures
give us a sufficiently accurate account of God’s action in the history
of Israel and particularly in the birth, life, death, and bodily resurrection of
the Lord,” says the committee. But “we do not think that highlighting the issue
of detailed factual inerrancy is helpful or necessary to insisting on
the full authority and trustworthiness of Holy Scripture.”
The Church of the Nazarene views scripture differently from other Evangelical
groups. The committee had especially in mind the difference between Nazarenes
and a particular Calvinist tradition. “This assertion of the complete inerrancy
of Scripture in every detail (‘inerrancy throughout’) comes out of one
particular Calvinist tradition,” they write. (Not all Calvinists are strict
inerrantists.)
The committee notes two “severe” disadvantages in claiming the detailed
factual inerrancy of scripture instead of its sufficiency. First, the concept of
‘error’ is not helpful, because it is impossible to define what constitutes an
error. “The concept of ‘error’ is an absolutist word applied to
something which is necessarily a matter of degree, and it is
consequently a nightmare since it leads us straight into frankly silly and
futile questions.”
Second, the misguided concept of absolute or detailed inerrancy diverts
attention to unprofitable debates about unimportant details. “Because we are
dealing with ancient literature, we frequently do not have enough information to
determine whether an apparent contradiction is truly a contradiction or
not.”
In the final section, the committee quotes many notable Church of the
Nazarene scholars. Virtually all are opposed to the idea that the Bible is
“inerrant throughout.” From this, the committee concludes, “Nazarene theologians
as a whole, with few if any exceptions, are totally opposed to the idea that we
need to assert the complete detailed factual inerrancy of Holy Scripture in
order to defend its authority.”
After noting that changing the current view from soteriological inerrancy to
absolute inerrancy would go against the denominations Wesleyan heritage and
against its leading theologians and scholars, the committee says that the
proposed change would result in a “narrower fundamentalist view.” And this would
create “very serious division in the denomination.”
Thankful
Thankful
When I concluded my reading of this report, I felt a deep sense of gratitude.
While no denomination is perfect, I’m so thankful to be part of a group that
both champions Scripture but also recognizes its limitations. I appreciate being
in a worldwide community that believes God’s purpose for the Bible is that we
might use it to follow God’s call of salvation.
(Find the full text of the report here on
the Didache website.)
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